Post by King George III on Mar 12, 2008 18:33:56 GMT 1
King George III
King of The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland, King of Hanover
Name: King George III
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George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.King of The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland, King of Hanover
Name: King George III
Nickname: n/a
Physical Appearance:
Chosen Country: The United Kingdom
Other:
He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language.
George III was the ruling monarch at the time of American independance, something that historians have tried to write off as his fault. This is, however, untrue.
George's direct responsibility for the loss of the colonies is not great. He opposed their bid for independence to the end, but he did not develop the policies (such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties of 1767 on tea, paper and other products) which led to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of Parliament.
These policies were largely due to the financial burdens of garrisoning and administering the vast expansion of territory brought under the British Crown in America, the costs of a series of wars with France and Spain in North America, and the loans given to the East India Company (then responsible for administering India).
By the 1770s, and at a time when there was no income tax, the national debt required an annual revenue of £4 million to service it.
The declaration of American independence on 4 July 1776, the end of the war with the surrender by British forces in 1782, and the defeat which the loss of the American colonies represented, could have threatened the Hanoverian throne.
However, George's strong defence of what he saw as the national interest and the prospect of long war with revolutionary France made him, if anything, more popular than before.
The American war, its political aftermath and family anxieties placed great strain on George in the 1780s. George has suffered serious bouts of illness between 1788-89, and this sickness is seemingly returning to haunt him.
